Page 20 - March 2019 IWMA News Interactive

Kaitlan Deevey Proud to Represent UK Dragsters
Fourteen year old Kaitlan mates, sleep, and watching Netflix.
However, in drag racing, consis- tency is key and they were able to dial in the car and lived up to their reputation for the most consistent car!
1st round she was against Lottie Bradford and ran 0.12 seconds off her dial in and winning the race.
2nd round was against Liam McDonald. They dialed in an 8.70 and ran an 8.74...another win!
3rd round was against Jacque- line Bartlet (the track owners daughter). Kaitlan ran 0.09 off dial in and she was into the semi finals. “Our first ever bye run!! What a lucky day!” she said.
Into the finals against Harry Redshaw, they dialed in an 8.75 and ran an 8.76, 0.01 off dial in. Harry ran 0.03 off dial in...her closest and most thrilling
race.
“After each elimination
round I was very emo- tional as I could not be- lieve I had won. When I pulled in after winning the finals I remember looking up and seeing all my family and friends congratulating me and I could not stop cry- ing with happiness.” she shared.
Team Dynamite Racing competes across Europe. This consists of 6 rounds at Santa Pod Raceway in Northamptonshire England, NitrOlympX at Hockeheimring Ger- many, Hal Far in Malta and Clastres in France, as well as demonstration passes at lifestyle events. Most events she com- petes at are live streamed on Youtube and Facebook by the track. In 2018 the views on Youtube for Santa Pod Race- way were 159,921 and Facebook were 819,268, and over 400,000 spectators
attended Santa Pod Raceway. NitrOlympX at the Hock-
enhiemring is one of the biggest events
Deevey lives in East Finchley, London with her Mum Jodie, Dad Richard and little sister Nieve.
She is in year (8th grade) and goes to Compton School. Most of her friends think racing is cool but only a few have seen her race, so most do not understand what it entails.
Kaitlan was bullied at school in the past, because she has dyslexia. That changed after she started racing. “Since going racing I have become more con- fident in myself and my abilities. Now I focus on helping others who have been bullied.” she said.
If they made a movie of her life she would want Selena Gomez to play her.
Before Kaitlan was born, her dad used to crew on a jet car at San- ta Pod and took a break when she was born. He was always telling the family about the fun times he had there and wanted Kaitlan to have a try. She rented a dragster for a test day and was hooked.
Her marketing partners include Lucas Oil UK, Signstar, and Raunds Embroidery and Printing.
ANITA MÄKELÄ, top fuel driver in Europe, inspired Kaitlan to race.Her Crew chief is Chris Barnes.
Kaitlan wants to be a photographer, actor or racer. The best advice she has received is from her crew chief. “Don’t listen to your Dad.” he told her and this made her laugh, as he always gives her silly advice for racing.
As a little girl, Kaitlan played with dolls, not cars. Her favorite TV show is Eastenders. Spain is her favorite place for vacations because it is hot and she likes sunbathing by the pool or play- ing in the pool with her sister.
When she is not racing, she en- joys playing Fortnite, going out with her
Her crew include Richard Deevey (Dad), Jodie McGee (Mum) Jemma Barnes (admin and social media) and all her family.
Her most memorable moment in racing was when she won Main Event 2018, starting with a broken car and feeling hopeless. Then with the work from her crew, she was winning rounds. “My crew chief worked till late in the night changing the engine. We started qualifiers with no data on the engine and qualified 18th out of 23.
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